Infected
by Ninjistics
Summary: It had resided in his body for years, slowly devouring him from the inside... The origin of the illness that was to become the demise of the infamous Uchiha Itachi.


This is for those of us who have wondered our Itachi-loving little heads about how our favorite Uchiha was infected by that horrid awful disease. This fic was originally intended for a friend of mine, but HUZZAH I have decided to share. It's mostly created in our own special ninjatastic world so I may have disregarded any recent revelations about the Akatsuki or Itachi made in the manga, but you're just going to have to deal.

Oh yeah and I don't own Naruto.

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The young Uchiha pushed the blade deep into the young boy's chest, feeling the youth take his last breaths. A shudder passed through the small, slim frame before it became limp in Itachi's hands. He tossed the lifeless body aside, turning on his heel as the corpse landed atop the growing pile with a soft thump.

Kisame watched the 15-year-old raven-haired boy clean his blade before sheathing it beneath his black cloak. The shark then took one last glance around, studying the desecrated village carefully searching for any signs of life that he and his partner had yet to destroy. Once he had assured himself that anything that had once been alive was now nothing but nourishment for worms and maggots, Kisame latched his samehada to his back and nodded to Itachi.

"Oi... we're done here," he said to him.

Itachi turned to Kisame and the two started making their way through the masses of corpses and burning wreckage. Kisame resisted the urge to glance over his shoulder to ensure his silent partner was still behind him, having finally learned that Itachi was one partner the shark would probably never have to worry about. It had almost been two years since Leader-sama had brought the young, frail, Uchiha into the Akatsuki hideout, introducing him as the new member and Kisuke's replacement partner. He recalled the sinking feeling in his stomach as he had stared at the boy who looked so fragile it was a wonder he hadn't shattered into tiny little pieces already. The other members had mixed reactions, but the most common was suppressed laugher (no one would dare openly laugh at a choice made by the infamous Pein-sama) as men who had been through years of blood-shed and violence gawked at the pale youth and his fragile beauty. However, in the short time that Itachi had been with the Akatsuki, he had done more than enough to prove himself and although it had taken longer than necessary, Kisame had finally reassured himself of his partner's competence.

Kisame suddenly heard the muffled footsteps behind him silence. He stopped and turned around and saw Itachi with his head turned towards some of the burning houses.

"What is it Itachi-san?" questioned Kisame quietly, his hand reaching towards the handle of his samehada.

Ignoring him, Itachi silently reached inside his cloak and drew out a kunai. He made his way towards the row of houses, weaving his way between the flames as Kisame followed close behind. As they passed the largest house, Kisame's eyes landed on a small shack, which had somehow remained out of reach from the burning flames. It was an ancient little house with grime covering every inch of the windows, which were shut off by black curtains that fluttered slightly from the breeze blowing through cracks in the ruined walls. Another strip of black cloth was nailed to the front door, which was slightly ajar.

Itachi continued towards the house and took the black cloth in his hands, studying the moth-eaten material carefully. He then dropped it and silently made his way into the dark house. Kisame entered behind him and squinted into the darkness. The black curtains blocked off any light offered by the burning houses and the only source of light was a single candle steadily burning its way to the wick. The entire place smelled stale, as if no one had entered or left for decades. Ahead of him, his partner had created a small ball of fire in the palm of his hand, lighting the entire room up. Filth-covered blankets were scattered about the room and moldy bowls that looked as if they had been there for months were piled in one corner.

A sudden flicker of movement caught both of their eyes in the next room. Itachi reached the open door before Kisame and stepped through, lighting that room up as well. The sound of heavy breathing and a rustle of blankets quickly met their ears. Turning towards the source, Kisame spotted a small form huddled beneath layers of moth-eaten blankets. He nodded at Itachi and gestured towards the form. As soon as he did, he felt something soft brush against his leg. The tall Akatsuki jumped and drew his samehada in a flash, pointing it towards the offending creature. He was answered by a soft mew as two yellow eyes stared up at him.

"Tch... stupid cat," growled Kisame as he raised his Samehada.

Itachi, who had been making his way towards the form huddled in the corner, paused right in front of it and looked at his partner.

"Stop," he said suddenly.

Kisame stopped his samehada in mid-swing and slowly turned towards the dark-haired killer looking at him with bright red eyes.

"... What?"

"Just leave it," Itachi stated simply, his tone implying the finality of the conversation.

Kisame resisted the urge to laugh. The boy who had literally torn heads off their owners bodies in front of small childrens' eyes was telling Kisame to spare the life... of a cat. Wow.

The Uchiha's red eyes followed the cat as it strutted away before turning back to his victim. He reached down and grabbed the blanket being held over its face and tore it off in one swift motion.

Beneath the blanket was a boy who could have been around 16. His skin was pasty and covered in bright red sores and pulled tightly around his emancipated form. Thin strands of sweat-covered hair fell limply around his pale face. The boy seemed as if death had captured him already as he stared up at Itachi with clouded eyes.

"This was a waste of time... seems like something got to this boy before we did," mumured Kisame grumpily as Itachi placed the tip of his kunai against the boy's chest. The shark nin's eyes suddenly landed on the cat, instantly cheering up as an idea came to him. He stepped quietly towards the helpless thing, eyes glancing towards his partner. Grinning, he raised his samehada then brought it down on the animal which let out one final whine before dying.

Itachi spun his head towards his partner just as the kunai entered the boy's body. As soon as the blade sunk in, the boy's eyes widened and his mouth opened in shock, releasing a spurt of blood into Itachi's face. Distracted by his idiot partner, the young Uchiha had no time to react until the blood was splashed onto his face and in his eyes and mouth.

Itachi dropped the boy and wiped the blood calmly off with his sleeve. Kisame just chuckled, sheathing his samehada.

--

_7 months later_

"Kisame-san... Ikuzo."

Hoshigaki Kisame looked over at his partner who was standing a few feet away, tying back his long black hair. Nodding, he raised himself off of the stone he had been resting on and followed after his partner.

As the pair walked, Kisame studied his partner's back. Something odd had been going on with the Uchiha for the past month. He could not help but notice his partner eating and sleeping far less, which was worth worrying about seeing how little he did those things normally. His fair skin had become even paler and Kisame had often walked into the room to find his partner leaning heavily on the wall, his entire body trembling violently. His thoughts would then jump back to the mission several months ago and the boy who had acted the exact same way and the blood of his which had soaked the Uchiha's skin...

"I think your itty bitty partner has a cold, yeah," Deidara had said to Kisame. "Must be too chilly for the poor little boy to live through."

If it had not been for the events about to happen, Kisame would have been able to convince himself it was just a cold.

It all happened very suddenly. Kisame felt himself stop as in front of him, Itachi suddenly stumbled and coughed violently. Kisame hurried foreward and saw Itachi holding his hand in front of his mouth as blood spurted out with every cough. His legs suddenly gave out and the boy landed on all fours, coughing violently, blood dripping from his parted lips.

"Itachi-san... OI ITACHI-SAN," yelled Kisame kneeling down beside him.

The coughing suddenly stopped and Itachi's entire body collapsed to the ground. Spasms suddenly made their way through his arms and legs causing the boy's body to convulse and seizure violently. Kisame flipped him onto his back and was met with the whites of Itachi's eyes as they rolled to the back of his head.

"Kuso..." Kisame swore before hastily throwing the light body over his shoulder and sprinting off towards the Akatsuki hideout as fast as possible.

--

Pein gazed down at the unconscious Uchiha, after glancing at the IV drip ensuring it was full. It was a shame, really. So much potential, so much power, so much... beauty. All to be slowly devoured away by the insatiable hunger of the illness, which had already begun its attack from the inside.

Every akatsuki member with half a brain had tried everything they could to get the virus out of the boy's blood, but to no avail. The thing was not a visitor, not even a stranger, to the Uchiha's body now. It had merged itself with the blood cells flowing through his veins, making it virtually impossible to figure out what they were supposed to destroy. But although they could not destroy, they could forestall its inevitable destruction.

Pein drew the liquid into the syringe. He then pressed the needle to the crook in the pale boy's arm and pushed the contents into his body. Itachi's eyelids fluttered as the chakra in the liquid worked its magic. Pein glanced at the young face that would soon be destroyed by the thing taking over his body. He reached towards the vial that contained the substance that would draw out the boy's death rather than letting it occur in the next year and pocketed it in his cloak.

It was all they could do and it would not last for long.

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End file.
